"Charlie" Veron has worked on all the major coral reef regions of the world and has over 100 research publications including 12 books and monographs on corals and coral reefs. He is also the principle scientist of Coral ID and Coral Geographic which, respectively, are electronic products of taxonomy and biogeography with global coverage. The latter has underpined virtually all major conservation initiatives of Indo-Pacific reefs made over the past decade. He work has led to widely accepted evolutionary concepts of marine life and to the palaeontological record (Family Tree) of corals. He is author of the three-volume Corals of the World. He is former Chief Scientist of AIMS and now has his own organisation, Coral Reef Research as well as several adjunct positions. Veronâ€™s latest book, A Reef in Time: the Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End (Harvard University Press, 2008), distils the worldâ€™s best science for general readers, following the GBR from its earliest origins, to current issues, to future prognoses.